Eu_citzen
Gold Member
- Sep 19, 2006
- 6,484
- 2,111
- Detector(s) used
- White's V3, Minelab Explorer II & XP Deus.
- Primary Interest:
- Prospecting
Don't know if you are familiar with "carvings" here. Some may be, others not.<br>
These are sorta "in action" shots, documenting the process of carving a garnet using a dremel and different kind of bits and grinding media.
I will edit this thread as I go.
The rough; a close to 16+ cts colour shifting garnet in a difficult-to-facet shape.
Would have a low return.
So why not try carving it instead?
I do some rough grinding at 600 grit with sintered burrs, variety "el cheapo" from China.
Then I use 600 diamond paste (homebrew variety) and a tooth pick (special burr) to level out the bumps and generally round it off. Also gives a finer finish before moving on to pre-polish.
The first side is completely free form. Notice the black pencil drawings.
Using it to mark areas which need more cutting.
The second side looks like a mushroom growing out of the bush, IMO.
I've now moved to the next step, pre-polish. I started out using 3,000 grit, but it took to long.
So once again a home brew cutting paste was made using 1200 grit diamond. (6-12 micron)
It took on an polished surface using that!
I couldn't get a decent picture of the other side before finishing.
Tried using a final polish of 14,000 grit, didn't do any difference so I let it be.
This piece ended up at approx 18 mm long and 13.86 cts heavy(!!).
I hope this works, finished piece. Looks worse then it is.
Should've cleaned it before taking pics.
These are sorta "in action" shots, documenting the process of carving a garnet using a dremel and different kind of bits and grinding media.
I will edit this thread as I go.
The rough; a close to 16+ cts colour shifting garnet in a difficult-to-facet shape.
Would have a low return.
So why not try carving it instead?
I do some rough grinding at 600 grit with sintered burrs, variety "el cheapo" from China.
Then I use 600 diamond paste (homebrew variety) and a tooth pick (special burr) to level out the bumps and generally round it off. Also gives a finer finish before moving on to pre-polish.
The first side is completely free form. Notice the black pencil drawings.
Using it to mark areas which need more cutting.
The second side looks like a mushroom growing out of the bush, IMO.
I've now moved to the next step, pre-polish. I started out using 3,000 grit, but it took to long.
So once again a home brew cutting paste was made using 1200 grit diamond. (6-12 micron)
It took on an polished surface using that!
I couldn't get a decent picture of the other side before finishing.Tried using a final polish of 14,000 grit, didn't do any difference so I let it be.
This piece ended up at approx 18 mm long and 13.86 cts heavy(!!).
I hope this works, finished piece. Looks worse then it is.
Should've cleaned it before taking pics.
Last edited:
